Hillary Clinton: Benghazi ‘more of a reason to run’

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said that the criticism for her handling of the 2012 attack in Benghazi, Libya, is “more of a reason” to run for the presidency in 2016 than not.

“Actually, it’s more of a reason to run, because I do not believe our great country should be playing minor league ball,” Clinton told ABC News’ Diane Sawyer, according to a transcript. “We ought to be in the majors.”

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Clinton sat down with Sawyer for an interview that was to air Monday night, the eve of the release of her memoir “Hard Choices,” which details her tenure leading the State Department in the administration of her 2008 presidential campaign rival, President Barack Obama. Passages from the book — including on her experience with Benghazi —leaked out to the public in the weeks leading up to Tuesday’s release.

Republicans have slammed Clinton for how she and the administration responded to the attacks on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, in which U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans were killed. House Speaker John Boehner recently created a special committee to further investigate the attacks and chose Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.) to lead the panel. Clinton said the most recent inquiry into the attacks is a “diversion” from what Congress should be doing.

In the interview, Clinton said she takes responsibility for what happened and that she “would give anything on earth if this had not happened.” But she also told Sawyer that she “was not making security decisions” and relied on security experts for their judgment on maintaining security at the consulate.

When asked if she would testify before the special committee in the House, she said “that’s going to be up to the people running the hearing.”

Addressing the 2008 campaign, Clinton acknowledged the focus on her pantsuits and appearance but added that she did not call out sexism.

“I was not as effective calling it out during that campaign, either, because there is a double standard, we live with a double standard,” Clinton said. “People ought to think about their own daughters, their own sisters, their own mothers when they make comments about women in public life.”

Clinton also responded to recent remarks by Russian Vladimir Putin in which the foreign leader said “it’s better not to argue with women” and that Clinton “has never been too graceful in her statements.”

“Well, I saw that, and he’s not the first male leader who’s made a sexist comment like that. He and I, frankly, disagree. And we have done so publicly,” Clinton said.